Kids and Paint

Last Saturday we had 11 little girls over to help Gabi celebrate her at that point impending 6th birthday.  We welcomed the girls into our crowded tables in the kitchen to color on butcher paper while we waited for everyone, and then got started.  I asked the girls to pretend they were butterflies or bumblebees looking at a flower from above.  They drew flowers on their canvas and started painting away, filling all the white space with glorious color and even some glitter paint.  After they were finished my beloved friends Emily (my sis in law) Kristin, and Sheryl outlined the middles and petals in black ink to make the art pop, and then wound then with ribbon and a tag so the girls could give the paintings as gifts for Mother's day this weekend.  We played Pass the Portrait where each girl would add a feature or accessory as we passed the papers around in a circle.  They had so much fun playing this game as I called out, "Draw a nose....now PASS, Draw some earrings, now PASS." They enjoyed it that is, until they received their original back and saw how silly it had become.  Most of them didn't want to take those pictures home.  Oh well.  It was fun while it lasted.  We then made bookmarks out of paint chips and stamped on them.  We then went outside for a photo shoot.  Each child chose one or two accessories for the photo opp.  My friend Kristin took amazing photos of all the party guests.  We ended with letting the guests make Ice Cream Sundae Masterpieces to eat and let Gabi open her gifts.  What a fun, wild and colorful day we had! 
Beware, there are LOTS of pictures ahead.  Thanks again to my friend Kristin who took all the lovely photos below. 

Luci's 3rd Birthday

I think it is time to be honest and say, I'm failing at this blog thing.  It has been since Valentine's since I last posted.  But, because I have a fun occasion to write about and show pictures from, I've decided to get my act together just this once (at least for the month of March!).
Last Thursday was Luci's birthday.  She turned 3!  My baby is now 3....crazy!  We are so thankful for her in our family, and love her sweet/spicy personality. 
Luci had to endure a dr's visit on her birthday, where she got a new book (our Dr. gives out a book for each well child visit...cool huh?), and a shot.  She wasn't too wild about that part, but the sugarfree lollipop made it all better.  That evening we all went out to Chipotle, simple and easy, and then took Luci to Build-a-Bear to pick out a friend.  Our older two have had this experience before, but Luci hadn't, so we thought she would enjoy it.  And enjoy it she did.  She immediately set her eyes on a DUCK (actually it was a yellow chick, but we went along with duck for her).  She loved stuffing it, putting a heart from each family member inside, and washing her new friend.  She picked out a fancy party dress for her, and shoes as well, and named her Mazie.  She has been by her side pretty much the entire week.  We finished up the evening by going to PinkaBella cupcakes for a treat, and a romp in the play area at Bellevue Square.  It was a fun evening.

The next day while my older two were at school (they were so not happy about missing her party, but I knew if we had it after school, we would have had a gazillion older siblings at the party as well), we had Luci's Mickey/Minnie birthday party.  She had several little friends over with their mamas.  We read a book about Mickey's birthday, made a O'Toodles craft, danced to Mickey toons, played Duck Duck Donald, ate lunch, presents, and cupcakes.  Here are some photos from our morning. 

Loves

Today is Valentine's Day and I feel so thankful for all the LOVE in my life.  I'm so thankful for the love of my Valentine, John, and our three sweet children.  I have lots of love from my family and friends as well, and I don't take any of my relationships lightly.  I am truly rich.

We had a full day of fun today!

Funny Valentines

My sweethearts

E's valentine complete with sticky moustache.

L's valentine

G's valentine

E's class, some of the kiddos are sporting their new facial hair.

e and some of his buddies

Luci and her friend Gracie

heart crafts

valentine snack mix

cousin time

Eloisa's bday party

Snow and Ice Storm

Several weeks ago, the Seattle area got hit by winter weather big time!  Our kids had 6 days off of school (including MLK JR day) total because of the weather.  The first few days started out fun with lots of great playtime in the snow.  We have such a great neighborhood for sledding, and playing as there are so many families around us.  Then, the power went out, and the ice came and covered EVERYTHING!  The tree branches were all laden with ice, and many snapped like toothpicks under the weight.  Unlike Chicago, where we lived before, our city isn't prepared for weather like this.  We don't have lots of snowplows, and we don't have flat terrain, but hills which make it so dangerous to get around (especially for inexperienced snow drivers).  We were stuck at home for a few days without electricity.  All we had was our little gas fireplace where we would huddle to keep warm.  We read books, played games, and tried to stay positive, although the situation was more than trying.  There were thousands of homes without power according to the news on our battery operated radio, and we didn't know when we'd get it back.  We used John's jetboil for backpacking to make small amounts of hot water at a time so we could have hot cocoa or ramen noodles (they definitely don't taste as great as when we were in college).  Anyway, we were almost 40 hours without power, but we had friends that went 5 days without power. Once we got the power back on, we were extremely thankful for our heated home, and the ability to be able to run the dishwasher, and washing machine, and to have warm food to eat.  We are so spoiled, and it was a good reminder of how blessed we are to have something like electricity.  The definite highlight of the week was spending Friday night with our good friends who had a generator running.  The kids loved having a slumber party, and we enjoyed playing games until late!!! 

School's Out for .......

Snow!  I would have rather had it out for Summer, but whatever.  We will make do with what we have.  The kids are pretty stoked though.  Yesterday was a given day off as it was MLK JR. Day.  This morning the news report said our school district was 2 hours late, and within an hour changed it to a school closure.  I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be the same as the weather people are forecasting a big storm to come through this evening and tomorrow.  Yesterday, we did some fun sledding, and visiting with friends, and rounds of hot chocolate and tea.  This morning we had no power for about 2 1/2 hours, so we had candles and flashlights going.  I'm thankful it came back on, so we can stay nice and toasty inside until we decide to hit up more fun in the snow later. 

Snow Angels

We woke up to a dusting of snow today.  The kids were EXCITED!  We decided to head out to church anyway, and they were bummed to discover that after, it had melted.  It started snowing again, and by the time we bundled them all up after lunch, the snow was well....almost gone again.  I took off for a baby shower, and it started snowing quite a bit, and accumulated more, so after dinner, we all doned our winter gear, and took a walk out in the snow.  The kids are hoping that the sky really brings it tomorrow when they have a day off of school.  I'm fine with that, as long as then goes away, so we can get back to the previously scheduled agenda for the week.  :) 

Kids and their Daddy.  Check out Gabi and her hat in these photos.  I don't know how she could see anything.  

Big Brother gave the girls a ride on the sled around the block. 

Snow Angel #3

Snow Angel #1

Snow Angel #2

Me and my snow angels

new year

I know I rocked it on the BLOG every day of December goal.  Okay, maybe I kinda rocked it, there were a few lame posts in there right before midnight hit, but for the most part I did it.  And, it was fun! 
And, I know that I've been MIA since then.  Between getting back in the groove of our schedule, my gym FINALLY opening up 4 minutes from my house, and Emilio and I getting hit by the 12 hour stomach bug, we've been a bit busy.  

Here was the picture for our thank you cards after Christmas.  Can you tell Emilio wasn't so hip on acting like a snowman? 

The kids are back to school now, John has started his second to last quarter of law school (woohoo!), after school activities have commenced again, and like I mentioned earlier....my new gym is open!  I have been driving about 20-25 minutes to my gym and back again for over a year, so a 4 minute drive is heaven now!  And, so many of my friends are there too, and there is Zumba.  I'm having a blast working out.   That's what's new in my hood. 

Hope you are all having a great start to the new year!